Operation Explorations: REVIEW Gulf View RV (Encore) Punta Gorda, Florida

We booked here for two weeks. This was our second two week booking with Thousand Trails so it was free for us with our Florida (South East) zone pass. Normally this is not a resort that is included but we have six extra Florida resorts over and above the three included with the pass and therefore it was free. Also normally with a zone pass we would get about 20% off this resort as it is an Encore resort if we weren't booked in as part of our first 30 days are free.

Gulf View is located at 10205 Burnst Store Rd in Punta Gorda. It is near everything you could possibly need.

VALUE 5/5 for us as it was free. It would be $3 for us after our free 30 days. Regular rates here are between $50-$60 I believe which is expensive in my books and the rating would be a lot lower if full fees were paid.

SITE QUALITY 4/5 We were in site 40 and it was fairly level. It had a cement pad for the picnic table but we parked on grass. There was a huge rainstorm our first night here and the road in front of us flooded but the site stayed basically dry. It did get a bit mucky where we parked the truck. We were fairly close to the seasonal mobile home beside us, and their large air conditioner facing but we still felt we had enough room. More room then some RV parks we have been crammed into in the past.

FACILITY FUN 3/5 There was a nice heated pool here with extra pool noodles and floats for people to use. Lots of lounge chairs/seating and sun umbrellas at the pool. Activities included shuffleboards, bocce ball, community fire pit, boat launch and a meeting/activity building. There wasn't a playground and the hot tub was adult only. There were no children's activities for the Easter holiday so I felt this wasn't very family friendly. The girls were however allowed to ride their electric jeep around as well as their bikes.

NATURAL SURROUNDINGS 3/5 The site were about average and had some grass around the lot. There were mature trees throughout the park. The river running behind the campground was a wonderful place to watch the sun set or go fishing or have a kayak ride. There was a large grass area near the meeting/activity building with large trees and a very peaceful setting along the river. My girls liked to ride their bikes here to play bocce ball and hang out.

BATHROOMS ??? Can you believe I forgot to go in them? We were out and about so much. My husband did say that he felt they were quite clean.

STAFF 4/5 We hardly spoke with the staff at all but when we did they were very friendly and helpful. We ended up leaving a few days early and they were very accommodating in returning our days to us that we left without using.

LOCATION 4/5 This location is very close to the town of Punta Gorda as well as being 10- 15 minutes away from the town of Port Charlotte. It was also fairly close to North Fort Myers and it was an easy area for all our various beach day trips we took while here.

OVERALL 4/5 Being a Thousand Trails member and staying for free boosted this rating. If we had to pay $50 plus a night my rating would be lower. Although this place isn't on the beach it was close enough to take numerous day trips to various beaches and nature filled hiking areas like Peace River Wildlife Center and Charlotte Harbor Environment Centre. I really liked that the pool had noodles and floats for everyone to use. A playground and allowing kids in the hot tub would bring this rating up too. Overall we were happy with our stay at this park and would stay here again.